The Kyle City Council voted to relocate an old live oak tree on Old Stagecoach Road to make way for a road-widening project following a special meeting Saturday.
The tree was originally set to be removed by the city, but after protests and community feedback, council members reversed the decision. Residents believe the tree is hundreds of years old and an online petition to save the tree has nearly 2,000 signatures.
“It’s an extraordinary tree,” Kyle City Council Member Lauralee Harris said at the meeting on Feb. 15. “It’s a single trunk tree, 51 inches [in diameter], that is a very, very old tree.”
Old meets new
Old Stagecoach Road winds on the west side of Kyle. It crosses countryside lots, old neighborhoods and recent developments, bridging old and new. The live oak tree sits within six inches of the road and those driving by it have to yield to oncoming traffic to pass safely.
The road used to connect the outskirts of town, but now it has become a major artery for residents. Tonya Saenz drives up and down Old Stagecoach frequently. Her brother lives on one end of the road, her daughter lives on the other side and her mom lives in the middle.
Saenz said driving up and down can be stressful.
“It's a two-lane road, it's a country road, it was never made for this much traffic,” she said. “There are also semis that are bringing materials back and forth for the things that they’re building.”
Standing in her mother’s driveway, Saenz can see the road and the top leaves of the old live oak tree in the distance. Within 10 minutes, she counted six semi-trucks passing by.
“ The traffic, it never stops,” she said. “It’s two o'clock in the morning, there's traffic on this road.”
Kyle City Council considered costs before reversing course
City officials expect the region's population will more than double by 2045, according to data from the Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization.
In 2022, about 65% of Kyle residents voted in favor of a $294 million bond for several road improvements and new roads.
As part of the bond, the city planned to widen Old Stagecoach Road, taking it from a two-lane road to four lanes and building two roundabouts at intersections. The estimated cost for this project was $41.2 million.
In December, the Kyle City Council voted to remove the old live oak tree to make way for the road project. The tree’s bark was to be turned into art.
After lots of community feedback, the city decided to revisit the decision. On Saturday, Kyle City Manager Bryan Langley presented three options to council members: Remove the tree, relocate the tree elsewhere or change the road plan.
“The growth in the city comes with the responsibility of figuring out how we have to manage it for everybody,” Council Member Bear Heiser said.
Mayor Travis Mitchell said although the city received a lot of feedback on the preservation of the tree, residents also want to see improvements along the road, which is why the expansion project was included in the 2022 road bond.
“I’ve really struggled with this tree over the years, and trying to understand what to do while also keeping the city moving forward,” he said.
Ultimately, the Kyle City Council voted 6-1 to relocate the tree to the 6 Creeks subdivision. City officials said six existing trees might be removed to accommodate the live oak.
Most council members agreed the decision would be a good middle ground for residents and would be significantly more affordable than changing the project design to go around the tree.
According to city documents, changing the road design could have cost the city up to $6.7 million and the estimated cost of the transplant is between $730,259 and $950,259.
What comes next?
In 2020, the City of Kyle found the tree to be a bad candidate for preservation, meaning it likely wouldn’t survive a relocation.
At the meeting on Saturday, Langley said there’s mixed information on the survival rates of trees that are relocated, and city officials feel confident this live oak will survive.
“Live oaks are very hardy,” Jessica Jones, an arborist with Austin Tree Surgeons, said. “They are going to be some of the easiest to transplant because they're so hardy and you can kind of bash them up a little bit and they tolerate it.”
Her company was consulted for the initial plan to remove the tree. For its health, Jones said it would be best to transplant the tree in the fall.
Once the tree is moved, it won't be immediately clear if the operation was a success. Jones said it takes years for a tree to become stable in a new location.
“We are talking years of monitoring and watering properly,” Jones said. “It's going to be very expensive.”
Jones said it will also be complicated to move and will likely include a crane to pull the tree out from the soil.
According to Langley, the tree’s relocation will need to be done before November to keep the road's construction plans on track.
